3 reasons why Ollie Pope's 196 for England is greatest by a visiting batter in India

England broke a million hearts when they beat India by 28 runs in the first Test of the five-match bilateral series in Hyderabad on Sunday, January 28.

Despite conceding a mammoth first-innings lead of 190 runs, England managed to turn things around in the second innings.

The Three Lions scored 420 runs in their second dig, and set India a target of 230 to win the match. The Men in Blue, however, faltered and fell short in the end.

Ollie Pope was the star of the show for England with the bat in hand in the second innings, scoring 196. Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, of course, was responsible for wrapping the Indian innings up for 202 with a seven-wicket haul.

Pope scored his runs off 278 balls, which is fairly quickly by modern-day standards. He did not appear fazed by the Indian spinners on display and took them on with immense confidence.

His footwork and stroke-making were a delight to watch, and it only came to an end when he was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah four short of a well-deserved double century.

In this listicle, we bring to you three reasons why Pope's 196 is the greatest knock by a visiting batter in India:

#1. It translated into a historic England victory

One of the biggest reasons why Pope's 196 is the greatest knock by a visiting batter in India is that it translated into a historic and rather memorable victory for England.

The Three Lions have not tasted a lot of success in India in recent times, and this win will give them a lot of confidence to attack the rest of the four matches in the series with renewed vigour.

Uppal in Hyderabad had been a fortress for India so far- they had never lost a Test here- and Pope made sure that England breached it and took a 1-0- lead in the five-match series.

#2. It reinforced Bazball's relevance in India

Symbolically, Pope's knock was critical because it reinforced the notion that England's newfound approach to playing Test cricket, also known as 'Bazball' after their head coach Brendon McCullum, can be relevant in the dry spinning tracks of India.

Pope swept and reverse swept with a confidence that one could rarely associate with a batter from the English Isles, and he took on the spin troika of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel with elan.

He got to the pitch of the ball on most occasions and smothered the spin. Pope's excellent of the feet was also credited for his stellar showing.

#3. It shook India's confidence on home soil

Pope's driving was a treat to watch.

India are a tough team to beat at home in Test cricket. Although they lost to Australia in Indore last year, they have been generally strong in these conditions that they know so well.

Pope's innings knocked the wind out of India's sails and forced them to look in the mirror.

True, India have been winless at home in three consecutive Tests by now, but they did not expect to be treated to a defeat here in Hyderabad after having taken such a monumental first-innings lead.

Pope changed the narrative and ensured that the tourists got off to the best possible starts in the five-match series.